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On May 6, PMC, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and the Harrisburg Area Community College co-sponsored a debate among the four candidates running for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  Capitol Wire has a feature article covering the debate.  The program is being aired on PCN.  The next showing is Sunday May 10 at 3:00pm.  Check PCN’s website for more information and additional scheduling information.

One highlight was the discussion focused on campaign contributions.  PMC Associate Director Shira Goodman asked the candidates to identify the major contributors to their campaigns and state whether they would recuse — step aside — from cases involving those contributors as attorneys, law firms, or parties.

The candidates agreed that raising money is the necessary evil that goes along with electing judges.  Democrat Jack Panella told voters that despite what some may say, judicial candidates — and therefore judges — know who their contributors are because they sign financial disclosure forms.  However, he and the other candidates all stated that because the next round of required reporting is just coming to an end, they could not identify their donors.

Republican Joan Orie Melvin suggested that the the Pennsylvania Supreme Court could set strict guidelines on recusal to guide judges, along the lines of what the United States Supreme Court might do in Caperton v. Massey .  Republican Cheryl Allen noted that in a past election, she had one major donor whose participation in a case would result in her recusal.  And Republican Paul Panepinto stated that he would recuse in any case involving a campaign contributor.

Throughout the night, the candidates discussed the need for judges not only to be fair and impartial, but for the public to have the perception that they are fair and impartial. But they also agreed that the role of campaign money can be a problem with regard to perception. Why not, then, get judges out of the fundraising business altogether? We think it’s time to find a better way to select appellate court judges.

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